When walking into the Museum of Ice Cream on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, one is hit with an instant sensory overload. The scent of ice cream and candy permeates the air, and the walls are decked out in seriously graphic ice cream paraphernalia. Ice cream sculptures hang from the walls and the rooms are painted neon pink, six-foot cherries dangle from the ceiling and there’s even a pool-sized ice cream decor birthday cake. 

Whether it be the history of ice cream or an ice cream-themed arcade, you can always count on the fact that ice cream will be coming at you from every angle. With about six rooms, each bearing a different ice cream-related theme, the Museum of Ice Cream is a unique experience that is catered specifically toward social media users — a museum for people who visit with the intent of taking and posting photos and videos.

Each room offers a new theme. With rooms dedicated to getting your ice cream fortune taken, playing ice cream themed miniature golf, ice cream themed arcade games, the history of ice cream and an ice cream sprinkle pool. Each exhibit also provides you with a new ice cream flavor to try, with unlimited refills.

“Every room has a different ice cream, so you’re basically eating ice cream the whole time,” senior Charlie Young said. 

He described the museum as an aesthetically pleasing place to take pictures, but even if that isn’t one’s main goal it’s still a very enjoyable experience. 

“I wasn’t even taking pictures there, and I was having fun,” Charlie said.

Tickets to the Museum of Ice Cream range from $36-44 per person. Charlie described the museum experience as almost being worth the price but not quite. 

“We had an hour to stay in the museum, like an hour worth of time, and we didn’t feel like we needed to use it,” Charlie said. 

Junior Jessie Greenstone also went to the Museum of Ice Cream and was out in 30 minutes.

“I thought it was really fun, and it had really cool decorations, but it was really short, and there wasn’t much to do if you didn’t want to take pictures,” Jessie said. 

She noted that the museum seemed to be catered to a specific audience.

“I think I would only recommend the museum to someone who really enjoyed taking and posting pictures,” Jessie said. 

Both Jessie and Charlie said they enjoyed the overall experience but also recognized that the museum is aimed at very active social media users. Much of the museum was set up for photo ops for social media. 

“There’s not that much that’s there. It’s enjoyable seeing it for the first time, but after that it felt recycled,” Charlie said. “I wouldn’t go back.”